Narasimha Kavacha 3 – Verses 21-31 – The reciprocal Lord blesses us according to how we approach him

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
session.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
Welcome back to the discussion on the Narasimha Kavacha. We are discussing now from the 21st verse in the Kavacha till now. First, the Kavacha is glorified.
Then the Lord’s beauty is described and His presence in the heart is invoked. And then He, the correspondence between His, by meditating on His bodily parts and remembering our bodily parts, the protection, His protection for those bodily parts is invoked, and then protection for all the directions is invoked. And now, from here onwards, the phala-shuddhi will be described.
So, this Narasimha Kavacha, it has come out. It is ornamented. It is the ornament that has come out from the mukha of Prahlad, that great devotee.
One who is filled with bhakti, that person, one who aspires for bhakti, one who recites it accordingly. Such a person becomes free from all sins. Actually, by reciting verses like this, our heart becomes infused with devotion and then sinful reactions go away.
This itself is potent in removing sinful reactions also. So, normally, wealth and children, especially sons, are considered to be an opulence, so a special blessing. So, in this world, a person will get both these things.
On top of that, one will get a long life also. And not only this, whatever one may desire, that one will get it. No doubt about this.
So, Rupa Goswami explains in the Bhaktasamit Sindhu that even in prayers glorifying the Lord, there are sometimes phala-shuddhi which are described, material phala-shuddhi. These are to attract people who are materially minded. And these are not the focus for devotees.
There are Ekadashis, and for every Ekadashi, there is a Mahatmya, and there is a description of that by reciting this Ekadashi, one will get this benefit. Or there is a Gita Mahatmya which describes how by reciting one verse of this chapter, one will get all these benefits. Now, our Acharyas have not emphasized these benefits so much.
Our primary goal is to glorify the Supreme Lord and to increase our devotion to Him. But these other blessings are also there. And for those who are attracted to such blessings, they are also described.
So, one will gain victory. Actually, the same thing is described twice. So, one may attain victory, but one may not himself become the victor in the sense that if somebody is attacking and one defeats, then one has become a victor.
But one has not necessarily expanded one’s territory. One has just repelled the onslaught. But one goes out and conquers also.
So, that is the Jayam and Vijayi. Vijayi means to actually become a conqueror. And then Bhumya Antariksha Divyanam.
So, there can be a malevolent, harmful influences from the Bhumi from the earth. Antariksha Divyanam. So, from the Antariksha is the sky and Divyanam is the heaven.
So, whatever influence might be there on the earth and they have heavens and in between, the Vinivaranam, they will be countered. So, Vrishchika is scorpion. Uragasambhuta.
So, actually, serpents and scorpions, these are terrible. Just by one sting, they can kill. Vishaparanamparam.
So, that poison can be countered. And Brahma Rakshasa Yakshanam. So, similarly, Brahma Rakshasas are there.
Various Rakshasas, but Brahma Rakshasas are extremely difficult to ward off because the Brahmanas have become Rakshasas and they have terrible powers. Their brahminical power has become abused and it has now become a Rakshasi. So, Yakshanam and Yakshasas are also higher beings who have great power.
Dhrotsaranakaranam. They are all driven away. Now, it is described that poison can be countered by physical means.
That is what we are familiar with. But even by chanting mantras, poison can be countered. So, this is a mantra which can counter that poison also.
So, then, So, one can write this prayer on one’s arm or inscribe it on a palm leaf and attach it to the wrist. Kavacham likhitam shubham. This is an auspicious prayer.
So, actually, nowadays, it’s a fashion to do tattoos. You know, people do different kinds of… people make different kinds of shapes on their bodies. So, and they think this is a decoration.
This is attractive. Now, this propensity to mark the body can also be dovetailed in Krishna’s service. Although we are not the body and we don’t want to increase our bodily consciousness, but if we mark the body with Krishna in different ways, in one sense, we mark the body with Krishna by the tilak.
But if somebody wants to do something more, then this is also one thing one can do. Some people can write the name Ram, some people write the name Krishna, so like that. One can write this prayer.
Now, of course, depending on the capacity to write the handwriting, size, font, one may be able to write a part of the prayer or the full prayer on the arm. It depends. But the point… or one can write it on the palm leaf and inscribe it.
The point is, contact with this prayer in any way, even if it is not as reciting, just by keeping the text connected with the body, that will also give results. One’s activities will attain perfection, success. So, one who recites this regularly.
So, thrice a day or once a day. And the mercy is described. Actually, the rigidness of the rules is not important.
The mercy is so great that one will get the results and one will become victorious. And it doesn’t matter who does this. The higher, middle and lower.
So, anyone who does this, this can be a connection to all these people. So, if by avoiding negative thoughts, undesirable thoughts, impure thoughts, by purifying one’s heart, then one starts reciting this. And Dvā trimśati sahasrāṇi.
That is, sahasrāṇi is thousand. Trimśati is three times of thousand. That is 30,000.
And Dvā is further two more. So, 32,000 times one recites. Then all auspiciousness one will get.
Sarva-mangala-mangal-jñāna. And bhukti and mukti. Whatever one wants, one will get this.
So, this is the power of repeated recitation. The seventh recitation is good and repeated recitation is glorious. That’s why we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra repeatedly.
So, this kavaccha is in the form of mantra. Mantra siddhi prajāyate. One will get the siddhi of chanting all other mantras.
This mantra is the rāja, the king of these mantras. So, other mantras or some people may apply bhasma on the body. So, whatever results one may get by that, one will get by chanting this mantra also.
So, now we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. This is the mahā-mantra. This is the greatest mantra.
Now, here it is said this is the king of mantras. So, how do we understand this? We have to understand it in these two ways. First of all, in spiritual life, there doesn’t have to be one best.
No, there can be different bests. That is the inconceivability of spiritual life. And there is also another point to understand that there is transcendental subjectivity.
Where Hanuman feels that Lord Rāma is the highest and there is no Lord higher than him. So, he doesn’t feel, oh, I am not serving Kṛṣṇa and Vṛndāvana, and therefore my position is not so insulted. No, he is completely contented.
For him, there is no reality higher than the reality of Hanumanji, of Lord Rāmacandra. And similarly, for Prahlāda, there is no reality higher than Narasimhadeva. And for him also, now when a person is chanting a particular mantra, and at that time, the Lord’s presence is invoked, and one is feeling His presence, there is nothing higher than this.
So, the feeling is not something which is unimportant, especially in the transcendental realm. Feelings are the highest reality. In fact, Kṛṣṇa is God.
But when Trishulamayi feels vatsalya bhava, that is celebrated. For her, that is the highest reality. And we don’t just aspire to realize Kṛṣṇa as God.
We want to get the bhava, which is very intimate. So, this transcendental subjectivity is not like material subjectivity. Just it is something which is to be given up.
No, it is something to be cherished. So, this is how there is this transcendental subjectivity. And even in the Brihad-bhāgavata Amṛta, it is described that when the Gopakumār, while going through various lokas, comes to Viṣṇu-loka, Vaikuṇṭha, and there he sees the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, who consider Viṣṇu to be the highest truth.
And Śrādhan Goswami does not say that, Oh, they are wrong. No, for them, they are right. There is this transcendental subjectivity, and we should recognize and relish it.
So, here, this mantra is the highest. So, when we are chanting this mantra, we should not be thinking, Oh, this mantra is not so great. Maybe I should be chanting some other mantra.
So, now we understand that our spiritual master, in our tradition, has given us a particular mantra. It is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So, that is the mantra which will be the sarva-mantra rājena.
It is the king of all mantras, the emperor of all mantras for us. And chanting that is our prescribed sadhana. It’s our primary sadhana.
But, when we want to remember the Lord, there is also the facility for variety. And sometimes variety enhances the rasa. So, especially when Narasimha Dashi is there, or especially when great danger is there, at that time, we can chant these mantras also.
So, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is complete, but that did not mean that Prabhupāda did not introduce Narasimha prayers for us. He introduced them. So, we shouldn’t think that there is a lot of competition among them.
Whatever enhances our remembrance of Kṛṣṇa, of the Lord, we do that. So, we have a prescribed sadhana. We do that sadhana.
But along with that, the important point is not just to complete the sadhana. The important point is to remember Kṛṣṇa. So, in addition to the sadhana, if some other means can help us to enhance our remembrance of the Lord, then why not? It’s a war.
And whatever weapons can help us, we use those weapons. So, we can recite this mantra also, especially on special occasions like Narasimha Dashi or when we want to invoke the Lord’s protection. But this can be a supplement to our primary sadhana of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
It should not be a replacement for that. tilakkaṁ viññasedhyas tu tasya gṛha-bhayaṁ haret tri-vāraṁ japa-mānastu laktaṁ vāryābhimantya ca So, one can anoint one’s body with the tilaka. Then one can do the ācman, basically sanctify oneself.
And then, tri-vāraṁ japa-mānastu If one chants this mantra even three times, laktaṁ vāryābhimantya ca So, one will get protection from the inauspicious planets. Their influence will be removed. Then, prasayet yo nara-mantraṁ narasimha-dhyāna-mācharet tasya roga-pranaśyanti yejasyo kukṣi-sambhavah So, one who recites this mantra, narasimha-dhyāna-mācharet while meditating on Narasimha Dev, tasya roga-pranaśyanti that person’s roga, his diseases will go away.
And, yejasyo kukṣi-sambhavah And, even those diseases which are born from the belly. So, now, often abdominal, stomach, digestive diseases are very difficult to cure. So, they are mentioned specially over here.
And even Lord is actually destroying the belly of Narasimha Dev. So, He has a special connection. So, basically, diseases can also be removed by the chanting of the mantras.
We know Śrīla Prabhupāda during the last days lived for so many months just on kīrtana and just on charanāmṛta. So, we have faith in the potency of the Lord, of the Lord’s mantras, of Narasimha Kavaccha for doing these things. But our focus is not seeking these things.
Our focus is on loving and surrendering to Krishna. So, my dear Lord, if you feel that it is best for my service to you that the disease be cured, let it be cured. Otherwise, give me the strength to serve you always.
That is the mood of a devotee. And now, this concludes with a very beautiful prayer which is filled with alliterations of the sound tama in the end. And this verse also describes the reciprocal nature of the Lord in a very beautiful way.
As one approaches, one is rewarded. That principle is demonstrated in this concluding verse. Let’s contemplate this verse after reciting it.
So, that Lord roars. When Narasimhadeva appeared, the roar was so thunderous. Now, what happened initially? When that engorged, in response, the demons also roared, Yes, you have come to fight.
We will fight with you. So, Hiranyakashipu roared and his associates also saw and they also roared in order to fight with him. But actually, Lord, he was greater than a one-man army.
So, just by his arm, just by his arms, the Lord Narasimha did not use any weapons. In this particular meditation, we can meditate on how he has four arms and he has a Shankha Chakra, Gadha Padma. But in his Leela, when he is fighting the demons, he does not use any weapons at all.
So, it was explosions. He just ripped apart the body of the demons and in this way, he killed them, destroyed them. So, the challenge was just squashed by him.
And then, Rupayantam, Taapayantam. So, Rupayantam. So, if he looks, where are the demons? He looks at the phone and Taapayantam.
He torments them. And where the demons may run to various places. Divibhuviditijam.
Ditijam means the demons are the sons of Diti. Ditijam, born from Diti. Divibhuvi, they may be in the earth, they may be heavens, wherever they be.
Normally, they are in the lower planets. But even if they come to the earth or even if they go to the heavens, the Lord catches them. Kshepayantam, Kshipantam.
Kshepayantam, he catches and then throws them down and scatters them. He scatters their forces, scatters their corpses, just devastates them completely, annihilates them. Krandantam, Roshayantam.
Krandantam, he roars, he thunders, growls in anger. Roshayantam, anger. He is infuriated.
So, the Lord was infuriated. My Prahlad, Prahlad’s dear devotee, how dare this Hiranyakashipu try to attack and torture and murder Prahlad. I will destroy him.
And he was so angry that nobody could check his anger. And actually, even after Hiranyakashipu was killed, Prahlad Narasimhadev remained angry. His anger did not subside.
Why is that? Because the devatas came and approached him to try to pacify him. But even they did not succeed. Why? Because he was angry even with the devatas.
He said, when my devotee was in danger, you neither protected nor protested. You did not come to protect him and nor did you protest. Hey, what are you doing? How are you killing such a small boy like attacking and trying to kill such a small boy? So, therefore, their prayers also did not satisfy him.
So, Lord is Roshayantam. He is angry. But at the same time, Dishi Dishi Satatam.
So, whichever direction the demons come, he destroys them. But that same Lord, Satatam Samharantam Bharantam. So, from here onwards, the whole focus changes.
So, those who approach him with devotion, Samharantam Bharantam. It perfectly, completely maintains them, sustains them, protects them. Vikshantam Poornayantam.
He is glancing at them, Poornayantam. Perfectly. So, he has hundreds of hands.
And the same hands are ripping apart the demon. Those hands are blessing the devotee. We know this Lord was so fierce, so ferocious.
And everybody was fearful. Even Lakshmi Devi was fearful. But when Prahlad came and offered obeisances, went down.
And what happened? That Lord was roaring like a lion that he was. He started purring like a cat. And very gently, lovingly, he touched the head of Prahlad, blessed him.
And a beautiful broad smile came on his face. So, that Lord is Vikshantam Poornayantam. He glances and protects his devotees with his hands.
He blesses. Prahlad Maharaj played, my dear Lord, that this blessing of the hand on the head, even the Ramadevi did not get it. Nobody else got it.
How extraordinarily merciful you are. But I, who am born in a demon family, you are giving this blessing. So, such a Lord, Divya Simbam Namami.
It’s your divine lion, I offer my obeisances. How wonderful is it that his love manifests for the devotees in sustaining them completely. And normally, anger and violence are not very appealing.
But then the anger and violence is a manifestation of love. So, the Lord is not angry for the sake of anger. The Lord is not angry for the sake of hatred.
His focus is not that he hates Hiranyakashipu. Actually, he loves his devotees. So, when that anger is an expression of love, then that anger is actually pleasing.
Now, normally, unless we have very strong emotions for something or someone, we don’t get angry in connection with that thing. So, when we see the anger of the Lord, that also demonstrates to the devotee how much the Lord cares that that Lord who is self-satisfied, who is perfect and complete, who doesn’t need anything, who is not disturbed by anything, but that Lord becomes disturbed when there is danger for his devotee. And that Lord becomes infuriated, wanting to protect his devotees.
So, such is the Lord who is so bhaktavatsar, so much a lover of his devotees. And that Lord who manifested to protect Prahalad, that Lord can manifest to protect all of us when we pray to him, when we chant the stotras glorifying him, and when we invoke his presence. So, Narasimha Kavacha can become a means for us to intensify our remembrance of Lord Narasimha Dev and seek his protection.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.